Rattlers crush Mora

MORA — Three minutes after it started, Tucumcari’s first football game of the season was over.

The Rattlers averaged a touchdown a minute to go up 20 points, then cruised to an easy 61-0 victory Saturday over Mora.

Coach Dub Smith said the Rattlers’ first-string offense only ran five plays before the game got out of hand. Tucumcari was up 34-0 after the first quarter and led 54-0 at the half.

“To be real honest, our kids came out real fast and … the bottom line is we outmanned them,” Smith said. He said junior varsity players and varsity backups played the majority of the game and no starters played in the second half.

“Our JV kids (at the end of the game), we were down on their 1-yard line and we took a knee,” Smith said.

“That’s part of teaching kids to live in society, to be good sportsmen. You know, we will hit hard and play hard, but we will walk off the field as sportsmen.”

Running back/linebacker Eric Holt led the Tucumcari charge with three touchdowns. He carried twice for 2 yards – both touchdowns — and returned an interception 53 yards for a score.

“It was a picture-perfect play,” Holt said of the interception. “I have the responsibility of playing in the flats. I read the play, and the ball came perfectly in my hands, and then just outran everybody else.”

But Holt warned that not every game this season will be so easy as Saturday’s opener.

“It gets harder every week,” he said. “We’ve got to go in and stay focused on every game.”

Coach Smith echoed the senior’s sentiment.

“Crownpoint is coming to our place (on Friday) and they have eight starters coming back from last year. So we’re expecting a really, really tough game. It will be exciting to have the home crowd next week.”